Thousand Oaks Pedestrian Accident Kills Woman

By John Bisnar

A Moorpark woman who died in an October 24, 2008 pedestrian versus SUV accident in Thousand Oaks has been identified as 65-year-old Margaret Figueroa. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, Figueroa was walking out of a parking structure at the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks when she was struck. The sport utility vehicle was driven by 43-year-old Suzette Quance of Thousand Oaks.

Thousand Oaks police officials said Quance was making a left turn out of the parking structure when she hit Figueroa. The impact caused her to fall and hit her head on the asphalt. Figueroa suffered major injuries in this 10/24/08 accident and died a few days later at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center. An autopsy report from the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office apparently showed Figueroa died from blunt-force trauma injuries to the head. Quance has not been charged or cited pending an investigation.

My heart goes out to the family of Margaret Figueroa for their tragic loss. They will definitely be in my prayers.
According to California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS), there was one fatal pedestrian accident and 24 pedestrian accident related injuries in Thousand Oaks in 2006. In Ventura County as a whole, there were a total of 11 deaths and 189 injuries relating to pedestrian accidents for the same period.

To me, this particular accident seems to be the fault of the SUV driver, who obviously did not see Figueroa walking out of the parking structure. Suzette Quance may have been distracted or simply may not have been paying attention to her surrounding environment. I’m sure Thousand Oaks police officials are also looking into whether Quance was driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the incident.

I’d urge the family of Margaret Figueroa to contact a reputed Southern California pedestrian accident attorney, who will independently investigate this accident, interview eyewitnesses and determine who should be held responsible. Where there is negligence or wrongdoing involved, the victims or the families of deceased victims are entitled to wrongful death claims. Such claims often compensate for the loss of a loved one or even a primary breadwinner who was killed because of someone else’s negligence.

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